Opinions
Chris Toepker is a contributor to Ministry of Tofu. He hails from the United States, has been living in greater China since 1990 and has recently relocated to Beijing. All too often, visitors to Beijing fret and cluck their tongues at the air pollution. While it certainly is awful, clearing the air is certainly no simple [...]
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“I’m sorry, but the lavender pillow is out of order, can you please choose another?” A classic mixture of over-the-top yet sincere customer service sprinkled with cultural “close enough-ness” to be charming. A soft knock on my hotel door reveals a smiling young man with my Chinese Herb Pillow as I think “what a crazy [...]
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A master’s graduate coming from rural China did not find an ideal job in the city and returned to his village to work on the farm. His father, who has been a peasant for his entire life, felt so humiliated and depressed by his son’s choice, or rather, lack of any, and attempted suicide. On [...]
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Readers of the Guardian Newspaper in the UK have expressed their desire on an online poll to see an apology from John Leonard, the American swimming coach, following his allegations that the performance of the Chinese swimmer, Ye Shiwen, were ‘unbelievable’ and ‘disturbing’. An overwhelming 98% of netizens who visited the site stated that they [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. Jianbing (煎饼), often translated to ‘Chinese pancake’, is one of the most celebrated snacks Northeast Chinese streets, and even foreigners tend to appreciate its greasy taste and its high calorie-per-money value. In recent years the jianbing is facing [...]
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After Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced at a press conference that Chen Guangcheng could well apply to study abroad just as any other Chinese citizen can, the U.S. State Department issued a statement that says Chen has been offered a financial aid package by a U.S. university and is allowed to bring his wife and [...]
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Four major state-run newspapers in Beijing published strongly worded editorials on the same day, accusing the U.S. politicians of “clumsy antics” and using activist Chen Guangchang as a pawn against China. Beijing Daily: “Looking at U.S Politicans’ Clumsy Antics through Chen Guangcheng.” Beijing Times: “Chen Guangcheng Is A Newly Found Tool And Pawn of America; [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. In the last few decades, self-help culture, in the form of advice books, accessible knowledge and popularized expertise is blooming in the Western world as well as in many developing countries. China is no exception. Commercialized medicine, [...]
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Until last night, Bo Xilai is like Schrodinger’s cat thrown into a dark box with radioactive substance. All Chinese know the political career of Bo, a charismatic politician best known for his campaign of singing red songs and combating triads and a hopeful candidate for China’s top office, is over, but no one knows how [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. The marketing of brands in China often faces tensions between modernity and tradition, foreign and local orientations or individualistic materialism and longstanding cultural values. Whether we are discussing foreign companies or local enterprises, in order to prosper in [...]
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Note: Gil Hizi is Ministry of Tofu’s contributor. He is also the chief editor of website Thinking Chinese. China is giving great attention to the sharp differences between the 70hou (Post-1970s, Chinese born between 1970 and 1979), 80hou (Post-1980s, Chinese born between 1980 and 1989) and 90hou (Post-1990s, Chinese born between 1990 and 1999), as [...]
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Last year, the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” drew global attention to the “maternal ruthlessness” of Chinese moms, and ultimately popularized the term “Tiger Mom.” Now, almost exactly a year later, a new Times article “Tiger cubs on the prowl” by Mark Clifford pointed out the shift in these tiger cubs. (Read our story [...]
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From Beijing News Miyun county, situated at northeast Beijing, is going to invest more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) on the construction of an English-speaking town as large as 60 hectares (165 acres) where no Chinese is allowed, according to county chief Wang Haichen. “It is a significant development project with the nature of [...]
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Via M4.cn An article on magazine Jinglue, cited by website M4.cn, details the thoughts of two parents, an American father and Chinese mother, of why they chose to emigrate to China for a Chinese-style education for their child. Below are some of their reasons alongside my commentary. NOTE: Of course I will be commenting based [...]
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Via Sina Weibo. A video (seen above) of a recent Republican Primary Debate has been circling the net featuring Republican Presidential Candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, responding to what he would do about China as president. His quote is as follows: “…So what should we be doing? We should be [...]
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Apart from the common words of commemoration and condolences that’s perhaps shared throughout the globe, here are some more interesting ones, many of which show a more standoffish attitude. First, a hot topic that was quickly passed around on Weibo was about a remark made by a guy called Pan Shiyi, aka “China’s most visible [...]
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From Dahe Daily Elegiac couplets were written and hung; a sacrificial alter was set up; condolences were expressed; eulogies were pronounced; Buddhist monks were invited to chant prayers…For those who are wondering for whom was such a grand funeral and memorial service held, the answer is beyond their expectation: cows. A video of a funeral [...]
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Gary Locke has officially taken office in Beijing as the new U.S. ambassador to China. It remains unclear as to whether he could play a positive role in boosting the bilateral relations. However, his arrival has already been an epiphany to Chinese people who feel affinity with the gentleman with Chinese roots even before his [...]
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In a country as vast as China, traveling from one place to another one or two provinces away used to denote having to spend at least one night on the road. Now, with the ever-expanding high speed railway network that boasts the world’s highest average velocity, it whizzes from Shanghai to Beijing, which is about [...]
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The National College Entrance Examination in China, or commonly known as Gao Kao, is a series of tests adopted by almost all Chinese higher education institutions as one of the very few major criteria for enrollment at the undergraduate level. It is usually taken by students in their last year of high school, although there has been no age restriction [...]
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